Proximity-Enhanced Reconfiguration of Telephone Ring List

ABSTRACT

Proximity of a user/device to a designated location or other user/device can be determined and used to trigger automatic reconfiguration of a telephone ring list associated with the user/device. Accordingly, there is no need for manual reconfiguration to accommodate changes in the user&#39;s location or schedule. Specific phone numbers may be added or removed from a user&#39;s ring list based on proximity information, and the ring list may be reconfigured as the user arrives at or departs from a designated location. The user&#39;s desired phones will automatically ring for incoming calls based on the ring list and/or an identification of the incoming call.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments relate generally to reconfiguration of a telephone ringlist, and more particularly to reconfiguring based on proximityinformation.

2. Background Art

A “Follow Me” or “Find Me” system can cause multiple target phones toring for incoming calls to a phone number for a user. However, thesystem is associated with a manual configuration that the user isrequired to access to set up and make configuration changes.

Such systems can include customizations. Different groups of callers cancause different lists of target phones to ring, and schedules associatedwith each target phone can cause a given phone to be removed from atarget list at specific times according to the schedule.

However, these systems are limited to fixed schedules. If a userdeviates from the schedule (e.g., taking a vacation or a sick day,staying late at work, delayed by traffic), the system can cause thewrong phones to ring until the user manually reconfigures the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings are included to provide further understanding,are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, andillustrate embodiments that, together with the description, serve toexplain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a telephone ring list reconfiguration systemincluding proximity recognition according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system including proximity recognition according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system including proximity recognition according to anembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system including proximity recognition according to anembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system including proximity recognition according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system including proximity recognition according to anembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.

FIG. 9B is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.

FIG. 11 is an example flowchart of a telephone ring list reconfigurationmethod according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an example computer system used toimplement embodiments of the telephone ring list reconfiguration system.

The present embodiments will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers mayindicate identical or functionally similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present invention is described herein with reference toillustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled inthe art with access to the teachings provided herein will recognizeadditional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scopeof the invention and additional fields in which the invention would beof significant utility.

In an embodiment, the proximity of a user/device to a designatedlocation or other user/device can be determined. The proximity can beused to trigger automatic reconfiguration of a telephone ring listassociated with the user/device, without the need for manualreconfiguration when the user changes locations or as the user'sschedule varies from day to day. In an embodiment, specific phonenumbers may be added to or removed from a user's ring list based onproximity information. The ring list may be reconfigured as the userarrives at or departs from a designated location. Accordingly, theuser's desired phones will automatically ring for incoming calls whenthe user is present at an associated location. Additional variationsinclude determining a proximity to another user/device, configuring thering list to have a “Do not disturb” configuration, selecting a ringlist from a plurality of ring lists, and configuring/selecting the ringlist based on an identification of the incoming call.

The specific illustrations and embodiments are described with respect tovarious platforms including personal computers, cellular telephones,personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets (e.g., Apple® iPad™), andother mobile devices, Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephones usingvoice over IP (VOIP), and other systems capable of receiving telephonecalls and/or utilizing a network connection such as the Internet.References to a telephone or telephone number should therefore beinterpreted to include these and other similar systems capable ofinvolving telephone calls.

Although specific embodiments of determining locations and/or proximityare described, embodiments can be implemented, for example, as disclosedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/652,463, filed Jan. 5, 2010 andentitled “Enhanced Subscriber Authentication Using Location Tracking,”the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in full.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a telephone ring list reconfiguration system 100including proximity recognition according to an embodiment. The system100 determines a user location 110 associated with a user. Additionally,the system 100 determines the user's proximity to other designatedlocations, including home proximity 120 and work proximity 140. Thesystem 100 may also determine the user's location relative to a seconduser proximity 160. For example, the system 100 can determine a seconduser proximity 160 based on a device 170 associated with the seconduser.

System 100 reconfigures a ring list associated with incoming calls forthe user. In embodiments, configuring and/or reconfiguring may includecreating, modifying, and/or selecting a ring list. Accordingly, thesystem can automatically cause one or more phones to ring in response tothe incoming call and the ring list. In the illustrated embodiment ofFIG. 1, when the user location 110 is not associated with a specificlocation or other user/device, system 100 causes the user's mobiledevice to ring in response to incoming calls. When the user location 110is associated with home proximity 120, system 100 causes home phone 130to ring in response to an incoming call to the user. System 100 may alsocause the user's mobile device to ring simultaneously or following aperiod of time after home phone 130 rings. Similarly, system 100 cancause work phone 150 to ring when the user location 110 is associatedwith work proximity 140.

System 100 can also select a different ring list (or create a new ringlist, or modify an existing ring list) when the user location 110 isassociated with a second user proximity 160. As illustrated, the seconduser proximity 160 can be determined based on the second user's mobiledevice 170. In an embodiment, system 100 can cause the user's incomingcalls automatically to go directly to voicemail when the user location110 is associated with the 2^(nd) user proximity 160.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 200 including proximity recognition according toan embodiment. A location of mobile device 210 may be determined basedon triangulation and/or signal detection of cell towers 220. Location ofmobile device 210 may also be determined based on Global PositioningSystem (GPS) tracking or assisted-GPS (A-GPS) tracking based on GPSsystem 230.

Control system 240 receives location information 250. Locationinformation 250 can be received from a cell tower infrastructure, asillustrated. Alternatively, the mobile device 210 can obtain thelocation information 250 and transmit the location information 250 tothe control system 240. The control system 240 processes the locationinformation 250 and configures the ring list accordingly.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 300 including proximity recognition according toan embodiment. A location of mobile device 310 may be determined basedon triangulation and/or signal detection of wireless local area network(WLAN) devices 320. Location of mobile device 310 may also be determinedbased on access point association with the network associated with WLANdevices 320, and/or by a lookup of location information (e.g., from adatabase) for IP address ranges associated with WLAN devices 320.

Control system 340 receives location information 350. As illustrated,location information 350 can be received from a WLAN infrastructure.Alternatively, the mobile device 310 can obtain the location information350 and transmit the location information 350 to the control system 340.The control system 340 then processes the location information 350 andconfigures the ring list accordingly.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 400 including proximity recognition according toan embodiment. Location information 450 can be determined based on auser log in 410, for example a user accessing a personal computerassociated with a designated location. Location information 450 also canbe determined based on access to services 420. Control system 440processes the location information 450 and configures the ring listaccordingly.

The location information 450 can be determined by tracking useractivities. For example, when the user logs in to a particular account,the location information 450 can be determined based on a variety oftechniques including those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/652,463, filed Jan. 5, 2010 and entitled “Enhanced SubscriberAuthentication Using Location Tracking.” Additionally, a user mayconfigure local software on a computer to notify control system 440 whenthe user performs a user login 410 on that computer, and back-end systemsoftware (e.g., email) can be configured to enable location information450 to be obtained.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 500 including proximity recognition according toanother embodiment. A location of mobile device 510 may be determinedbased on triangulation and/or signal detection of wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) device 530 and/or Bluetooth device 535. Location ofmobile device 510 may also be determined based on association with WLANdevice 530 and/or Bluetooth device 535.

Control system 540 receives location information 550. As illustrated,location information 550 can be received from a WLAN infrastructureassociated with WLAN device 530. Location information 550 can also beobtained from computer 520, which can communicate with WLAN device 530and Bluetooth device 535. Additionally, the mobile device 510 can obtainthe location information 550 based on detection of and/or triangulationof signals associated with WLAN device 530 and/or Bluetooth device 535.The mobile device 510 may transmit the location information 550 to thecontrol system 540. The control system 540 processes the locationinformation 550 and configures the ring list accordingly.

In the embodiments described above, the designated location of a device,e.g., a computer or networked device, can be determined, for example, bya user registering an Internet Protocol (IP) address as a designatedlocation, such as “home.” Accordingly, when the user is associated withthe registered IP address, the control system can determine that theuser is in the associated proximity. For example, a user's mobile devicecan include Wi-Fi capability, and connect to a WLAN device or gatewaybroadcasting a Wi-Fi signal, when the mobile device is within range.Upon connecting, the mobile device can be assigned an IP address, andthe IP address of the device broadcasting the Wi-Fi signal also can beobtained. Such IP addresses can be compared to registered addresses, andcan also be looked up in geolocation databases/lookup services for IPaddresses. Similar location techniques can be applied for other personalarea network technologies, such as Bluetooth. Gateways can include Wi-Fiaccess points, femtocells, and other nodes for establishing connections.A gateway may be recognized directly by a device, for example byrecognizing a Media Access Control (MAC) address, Ethernet HardwareAddress (EHA), or other hardware address, adapter address, or physicaladdress associated with the gateway and/or registered as a designatedlocation (e.g., “home”).

A gateway can be configured to register a dynamic Domain Name System(DNS) domain name. The domain name can be defined as the designatedlocation so that the system can automatically update if the gateway IPaddress is dynamically changed over time. The gateway can automaticallyreport its IP address to the control system and/or the mobile device,enabling the system to automatically update as the gateway's IP addresschanges.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 600 including proximity recognition according toan embodiment. A relative location of mobile device 610 may bedetermined based on signal detection of and/or association with a mobiledevice 670, for example a second user's mobile device. In an embodiment,mobile devices 610 and 670 can include Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fitransceivers. Mobile device 610 can detect Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fisignals from mobile device 670, and determine a proximity to mobiledevice 670. Mobile device 610 can then report location information 650,which can include location information for mobile device 610 and/ormobile device 670.

Control system 640 receives location information 650. As illustrated,the mobile device 610 can obtain the location information 650 andtransmit the location information 650 to the control system 640. Mobiledevice 670 can also detect a proximity to mobile device 610, and reportlocation information for mobile device 610 and/or mobile device 670 tocontrol system 640. The control system 640 processes the locationinformation 650 and configures the ring list accordingly.

Proximity to a second user can be determined based on any of the variousembodiments described herein. For example, location of a first user canbe determined based on association with a WLAN device 320 as illustratedin FIG. 3, and location of a second user can be determined based on auser login 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The control system candetermine that the first and second users are proximate to each otherbased on the first and second location information, even though thelocation information is obtained from different sources using differenttechniques. A control system can recognize the location of a device,and/or the device can recognize its own location and report such back tothe control system. One or more configuration rules can be executed bythe control system based on a determination that a device has arrived ator departed from a configured location, to modify the device user's ringlist. A ring list can include indications to sequentially orsimultaneously ring the listed phone numbers. Systems can include adefault behavior and/or ring list. Locations can be absolute orrelative, or associated with a connection. Calls can be routed directly,or calls can be routed indirectly by conferencing or othertelecommunication techniques.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an architecture of a telephone ring listreconfiguration system 700 on which embodiments can be implemented. Thesystem 700 may be implemented on any type of computing device. Suchcomputing device can include, but is not limited to, a personalcomputer, mobile device such as a mobile phone, workstation, embeddedsystem, game console, television, set-top box, or any other computingdevice. Further, a computing device can include, but is not limited to,a device having a processor and memory for executing and storinginstructions. Software may include one or more applications and anoperating system. Hardware can include, but is not limited to, aprocessor, memory and graphical user interface display. The computingdevice may also have multiple processors and multiple shared or separatememory components. For example, the computing device may be a clusteredcomputing environment or server farm.

User location 710 is determined, and communicated to control system 740.

Incoming call 720 is also received and/or processed by control system740. Control system 740 interacts with rules module 750, ring listmodule 760, and processing unit 770. Rules module 750, ring list module760, and processing unit 770 can communicate with each other and controlsystem 740. Processing unit 770 processes the incoming call 720 andproduces a processed call 780. Although specific modules areillustrated, one or more modules may be omitted or combined with othermodules to provide the described features.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an architecture 800 of a telephone ringlist reconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.Rules module 850 may correspond to rules module 750 illustrated in FIG.7. Rules module 850 receives parameters and control information 854. Forexample, rules module 850 receives control information 854 relating tothe incoming call 720, user location, time of day, user device, and soon. Rules module 850 includes rules 852 that can be executed based onthe parameters and control information 854. Results from processing bythe rules 852 are obtained in the form of ring list configurationinformiation 856.

Rules 852 can include actions based on designated locations, devices,users, times, schedules, types of connections, the incoming call, and soon. For example, a rule 852 may specify the inclusion of a hometelephone number on a ring list only when a user's mobile device is inthe home proximity. A rule 852 may specify the inclusion of an officetelephone number on the ring list only when the user's mobile device isat the work proximity. A rule 852 may designate a range of distances tobe considered within a proximity. Similarly, a rule 852 may include afrequency of updating and/or checking the parameters and/or controlinformation 854 associated with determining user locations. Yet anotherrule 852 may include a group of incoming (originating) phone numbers,such that calls whose incoming telephone number is in the group causesthe system to use a voicemail ring list to send the incoming calldirectly to voicemail without ringing any of the user's phones. Otherrules can be configured to act based on the incoming phone number.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram of an architecture 900A of a telephone ringlist reconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.Ring list module 960A may correspond to Ring list module 760 illustratedin FIG. 7. Ring list module 960A receives parameters/control information954A and ring list configuration information 956A. Ring lists 1. . . n(reference numerals 962A . . . 966A) are available for selection by ringlist module 960A. Based on the parameters/control information 954A andring list configuration information 956A, the ring list module 960Aselects a ring list and produces call processing information 968A. Forexample, when a user is in a home proximity, a corresponding ring listmay be selected.

Ring list 1 (962A) includes Phone number 1. When ring list module 960Aselects ring list 1 (962A), the call processing information 968Aindicates that the incoming call should be sent to phone number 1,causing its associated telephone to ring. Similar actions regardingvoicemail (ring list 2), “Do Not Disturb” (ring list n), and others arepossible using various selectable ring lists based on rules,configuration information, parameters, and other features of theconfiguration system.

Additionally, ring lists 1 . . . n can include incoming lists/groups oftelephone numbers associated with incoming calls, such as a designatedgroup of caller telephone numbers (an incoming list). The ring listmodule 960A can determine if the incoming call's telephone number isassociated with an incoming list, and configure/select a ring listcorresponding to the incoming list/group. For example, an incoming listcan include telephone numbers associated with a user's family members.That incoming list is associated with a ring list that the userdesignates as “family.” When an incoming call from a family member isreceived, the control system rings phones according to the user's“family” ring list (e.g., rings the user's mobile phone and home phoneif in proximity). Incoming calls may be checked against incoming lists,and corresponding ring lists may be selected based on the incoming listand the user's proximity/location and other information.

FIG. 9B is a block diagram of an architecture 900B of a telephone ringlist reconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.Ring list module 960B may correspond to Ring list module 760 illustratedin FIG. 7. Ring list module 960B receives parameters/control information954B and ring list configuration information 956B. Dynamic ring list962B is managed by the ring list module 960B. Dynamic ring list 962B isavailable for configuration by adding or removing phone numbers. Dynamicring list 962B may also be newly created. As illustrated, phone number 1(963B) is being removed from dynamic ring list 962B, and phone number 2(965B) is being added to dynamic ring list 962B. Based on theparameters/control information 954B and ring list configurationinformation 956B, the ring list module 960B manages the dynamic ringlist 962B and produces call processing information 968B. For example,when a user arrives at a home proximity, telephone numbers associatedwith the user's home telephones may be added to the dynamic ring list962B, and telephone numbers no longer applicable to the user's proximitymay be removed.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an architecture 1000 of a telephone ringlist reconfiguration system on which embodiments can be implemented.Processing unit 1070 may correspond to processing unit 770 illustratedin FIG. 7. Processing unit 1070 receives parameters/control information1054 and call processing information 1068. Processing unit 1070 operateson the parameters/control information 1054 and call processinginformation 1068 using call forwarding block 1072 and call routing block1074. Processing unit 1070 processes the incoming call and produces aprocessed call 1080. For example, processed call 1080 may be routedbased on call routing block 1074 to a target phone number according tothe ring list. Accordingly, an incoming call to a user will be routed toa target phone (or other destination) according to the user's ring list.Although not specifically illustrated, other processing blocks ortelecommunication techniques can be used in processing unit 1070, forexample a call disconnecting block, a call terminating block, or thelike for processing telephone calls, including Internet Protocol (IP)call processing.

FIG. 11 is an example flowchart of a telephone ring list reconfigurationmethod according to an embodiment. In step 1110, the system determines auser location. In step 1120, the system configures at least one ringlist based on the determined user location. In step 1130, the systemprocesses an incoming call based on the at least one configured ringlist.

The following is an example scenario using some embodiments describedherein. User Joe defines locations for office and home. He configureshis cell phone as a control device. He additionally configures rules toinclude his home telephone number on his ring list only when his cellphone is at the location (or in the vicinity) of his home. He configuresa second rule to include his office telephone number on his ring listonly when his cell phone is at the location (or in the vicinity) of hisoffice. As user Joe nears his home, with his cell phone, the controlsystem recognizes (via cell phone location techniques) that Joe is at ornear his home. The control system automatically adds his home phonenumber to his ring list. When user Joe leaves the home proximity, thecontrol system recognizes this and automatically removes user Joe's homephone number from his ring list. Accordingly, user Joe's ring list isautomatically updated without any intervention or manual configurationfrom user Joe.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an example computer system 1200 usedto implement embodiments of the telephone ring list reconfigurationsystem, and/or other systems. Various aspects of the various embodimentscan be implemented by software, firmware, hardware, or a combinationthereof. FIG. 12 illustrates an example computer system 1200 in which anembodiment, or portions thereof, can be implemented as computer-readablecode. Various embodiments are described in terms of this examplecomputer system 1200. After reading this description, it will becomeapparent to a person skilled in the relevant art how to implementembodiments using other computer systems and/or computer architectures.

Computer system 1200 includes one or more processors, such as processor1204. Processor 1204 can be a special purpose or a general purposeprocessor. Processor 1204 is connected to a communication infrastructure1206 (for example, a bus or network).

Computer system 1200 also includes a main memory 1208, preferably randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 1210.Secondary memory 1210 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 1212and/or a removable storage drive 1214. Removable storage drive 1214 maycomprise a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical diskdrive, a flash memory, or the like. The removable storage drive 1214reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 1218 in a wellknown manner. Removable storage unit 1218 may comprise a floppy disk,magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to byremovable storage drive 1214. As will be appreciated by persons skilledin the relevant art(s), removable storage unit 1218 includes a tangiblecomputer readable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In alternative implementations, secondary memory 1210 may include othersimilar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system 1200. Such means may include, for example, aremovable storage unit 1222 and an interface 1220. Examples of suchmeans may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such asthat found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as anEPROM, or PROM) and associated socket, and other removable storage units1222 and interfaces 1220 which allow software and data to be transferredfrom the removable storage unit 1222 to computer system 1200.

Computer system 1200 may also include a communications interface 1224.Communications interface 1224 allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system 1200 and external devices. Communicationsinterface 1224 may include a modem, a network interface (e.g., anEthernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, or thelike. Software and data transferred via communications interface 1224are provided to communications interface 1224 via a communications path1226. Communications path 1226 may be implemented using wire or cable,fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link or othercommunications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removablestorage unit 1218, removable storage unit 1222, and a hard diskinstalled in hard disk drive 1212. Computer program medium and computerusable medium can also refer to memories, such as main memory 1208 andsecondary memory 1210, which can be memory semiconductors (e.g. DRAMs,etc.). These computer program products are means for providing softwareto computer system 1200.

Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored inmain memory 1208 and/or secondary memory 1210. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface 1224. Such computerprograms, when executed, enable computer system 1200 to implementembodiments as discussed herein, such as the system described above. Inparticular, the computer programs, when executed, enable processor 1204to implement the processes of embodiments. Accordingly, such computerprograms represent controllers of the computer system 1200. Whereembodiments are implemented using software, the software may be storedin a computer program product and loaded into computer system 1200 usingremovable storage drive 1214, interface 1220, hard drive 1212 orcommunications interface 1224.

Described above are systems, apparatuses, and methods forproximity-enhanced reconfiguration of telephone ring lists, andapplications thereof It is to be appreciated that the DetailedDescription section, and not the Abstract, is intended to be used tointerpret the claims. The Abstract may set forth one or more but not allexemplary embodiments of the present invention as contemplated by theinventors, and thus, are not intended to limit the present invention andthe appended claims in any way.

Embodiments have been described above with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings andguidance.

The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be definedonly in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A method, comprising: determining a location of a user associatedwith a user telephone number for receiving an incoming call; configuringat least one ring list based on the user location; and processing theincoming call based on the at least one ring list.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the user location is determined by a user device. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the user device is mobile, and the userlocation is determined by the user device based on one or more of GlobalPositioning System (GPS) tracking and assisted-GPS (A-GPS) tracking. 4.The method of claim 2, further comprising recognizing, by the userdevice, the proximity of at least one designated device; and reportingthe presence of the at least one designated device to a ring listcontrol system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user location isdetermined based on the user accessing a non-mobile device associatedwith a designated location.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the userlocation is determined by a network control system for deteiinining thelocation of a user device.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the userlocation is determined by the network control system based on one ormore of cell tower association, cell tower triangulation, wireless localarea network (WLAN) association, and WLAN triangulation.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein a user device is configured as a control system fordeteiniining the user location, configuring the ring list, andprocessing the incoming call.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the userlocation is determined by a non-mobile device, associated with adesignated location, detecting proximity of a user device.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the proximity of the user device is detectedbased on one or more of Bluetooth detection and wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) detection.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingconfiguring the at least one ring list based on the user location beingproximate to a designated location.
 12. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising configuring the at least one ring list based on the userlocation being proximate to a location of a second user.
 13. The methodof claim 12, further comprising determining that the user location isproximate to the location of the second user based on a first userdevice detecting proximity of a second user device.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the first user device detects the proximity of thesecond user device based on one or more of Bluetooth detection andwireless local area network (WLAN) detection.
 15. The method of claim12, further comprising determining that the user location is proximateto the location of the second user based on a network control systemseparately tracking the user location and the location of the seconduser and recognizing co-location of the user location and the locationof the second user.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprisingconfiguring the at least one ring list based on at least oneconfiguration rule.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring theat least one ring list comprises selecting one of a plurality of ringlists.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least onering list comprises configuring a dynamic ring list by adding orremoving a telephone number to the dynamic ring list.
 19. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising selecting at least one ring list based on anidentification of the incoming call.
 20. The method of claim 19, furthercomprising determining whether the identification of the incoming callcorresponds to a designated group of caller telephone numbers; andselecting at least one ring list based on configuration informationassociated with the designated group.
 21. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising configuring the at least one ring list to block the incomingcall.
 22. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the atleast one ring list to connect the incoming call to voicemail.
 23. Asystem, comprising: a control system configured to determine a locationof a user associated with a user telephone number for receiving anincoming call; a ring list module interfacing with the control system toconfigure at least one ring list based on the user location; and aprocessing unit interfacing with the control system to process theincoming call based on the at least one ring list.
 24. The system ofclaim 23, wherein a user device reports the user location to the controlsystem.
 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the user device is mobile,and the user location is determined by the user device based on one ormore of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking and assisted-GPS(A-GPS) tracking.
 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the user device isconfigured to recognize the proximity of at least one designated deviceand report the presence of the at least one designated device to thecontrol system.
 27. The system of claim 23, wherein the control systemdetermines the user location based on the user accessing a non-mobiledevice associated with a designated location.
 28. The system of claim23, wherein the control system determines the user location based on anetwork control system for determining the location of a user device.29. The system of claim 28, wherein the user location is determined bythe network control system based on one or more of cell towerassociation, cell tower triangulation, wireless local area network(WLAN) association, and WLAN triangulation.
 30. The system of claim 23,wherein a user device is configured to include the control system todetermine the user location, the ring list module to configure the ringlist, and the processing unit to process the incoming call.
 31. Thesystem of claim 23, wherein the control system determines the userlocation based on a non-mobile device that is associated with adesignated location and configured to detect proximity of a user device.32. The system of claim 31, wherein the proximity of the user device isdetected based on one or more of Bluetooth detection and wireless localarea network (WLAN) detection.
 33. The system of claim 23, wherein thering list module configures the at least one ring list based on the userlocation being proximate to a designated location.
 34. The system ofclaim 23, wherein the ring list module configures the at least one ringlist based on the user location being proximate to a location of asecond user.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the control system isconfigured to determine that the user location is proximate to thelocation of the second user based on a first user device detectingproximity of a second user device.
 36. The system of claim 35, whereinthe first user device detects the proximity of the second user devicebased on one or more of Bluetooth detection and wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) detection.
 37. The system of claim 34, wherein thecontrol system is configured to determine that the user location isproximate to the location of the second user based on a network controlsystem separately tracking the user location and the location of thesecond user and recognizing co-location of the user location and thelocation of the second user.
 38. The system of claim 23, wherein thering list module configures the at least one ring list based on at leastone configuration rule.
 39. The system of claim 23, wherein the ringlist module configures the at least one ring list by selecting one of aplurality of ring lists.
 40. The system of claim 23, wherein the ringlist module configures the at least one ring list by configuring adynamic ring list including adding or removing a telephone number to thedynamic ring list.
 41. The system of claim 23, wherein the ring listmodule is configured to select at least one ring list based on anidentification of the incoming call.
 42. The system of claim 41, whereinthe ring list module is configured to determine whether theidentification of the incoming call corresponds to a designated group ofcaller telephone numbers; and select at least one ring list based onconfiguration information associated with the designated group.
 43. Thesystem of claim 23, wherein the ring list module configures the at leastone ring list to block the incoming call.
 44. The system of claim 23,wherein the ring list module configures the at least one ring list toconnect the incoming call to voicemail.